Author Topic: Tron film cabinet (Read 3399 times)

lostwire · « **on:** March 10, 2005, 12:52:50 pm »

Here's the artwork for my first MAME project which is based on the film Tron with a nod to the arcade game's control panel design. Two weeks ago I rescued a stripped Mortal Kombat 1 cabinet which was headed for the dumpster & eventually I'll be ordering a WG 9200 monitor to drop inside.

I figured I'd get started on the side art so I came up with something at 100% to scale in Illustrator CS & then placed them on top of a photo of the stripped out cabinet in Photoshop CS. The control panel was developed over a couple of days & the side art took the better part of a day.

GGKoul · « **Reply #1 on:** March 10, 2005, 01:50:06 pm »

WOW! That looks sweet! Can't want to see the completed cab!

Be sure to share those files

Wyluli · « **Reply #2 on:** March 10, 2005, 02:11:58 pm »

That is awesome! I'm envious. Be sure to post pics when finished!

AceTKK · « **Reply #3 on:** March 10, 2005, 04:43:14 pm »

aw man, I've been looking for a MK cab for two months now. I'm jealous of your luck... Nice looking art by the way!

-Ace-

Blacksmith · « **Reply #4 on:** March 10, 2005, 06:01:31 pm »

great looking artwork. how did you go about getting your artwork onto your cabinet. (is it a sticker or did you get it printed and then use some sort of spray adhesive or what? Also, is it laminated?)

eaviii · « **Reply #5 on:** March 10, 2005, 06:20:45 pm »

That totally rocks- Kudos!

Love the CPO as well-

Doc

mahuti · « **Reply #6 on:** March 10, 2005, 06:40:00 pm »

Blacksmith... it's a mockup.

Either of the 2 methods would work, though obviously, having it printed on vinyl would work better.

lostwire · « **Reply #7 on:** March 11, 2005, 09:18:48 am »

Quote from: mahuti on March 10, 2005, 06:40:00 pm

Blacksmith... it's a mockup.

Either of the 2 methods would work, though obviously, having it printed on vinyl would work better.

This brings up an issue I'm currently undecided about since this will be my first project. The cabinet is a Mortal Kombat 1 & the previous owner appears to have tried sanding the original decals off the side panels, which originally covered the entire area just as I plan to. If I laminated the sides would a full vinyl decal adhere to it, or would it be better to continue sanding off the original decals, paint over the particle wood & then apply my Tron decals? The reason I was thinking of applying them to laminate is it would offer a very smooth surface for the decals but again this is my first cabinet & I'm unsure of the best approach.

Here's the cabinet as it stands today:

SirPeale · « **Reply #8 on:** March 11, 2005, 03:37:42 pm »

You...SANDED...off Mortal Kombat art, from an original Mortal Kombat cabinet. Do you know how rare those cabs are?

RayB · « **Reply #9 on:** March 11, 2005, 04:21:20 pm »

He said "the previous owner"

lostwire · « **Reply #10 on:** March 11, 2005, 04:43:46 pm »

Quote from: RayB on March 11, 2005, 04:21:20 pm

He said "the previous owner"

I did at that. This cabinet was an abandoned MAME project that ended up with a shop that restores & sells vintage arcade machines. They probably stripped it for anything useable to restore another machine & when I got it it was headed for the trash.

lostwire · « **Reply #11 on:** March 12, 2005, 12:59:56 pm »

I found some time to think about a possible marquee so I opened up Illustrator CS, drew up the light cycle, the background & then went to work on the original Tron arcade logo. When I was coming up with this concept I decided right from the beginning to avoid using any gradients, & when necessary I'd use distinct hard edge transitions from one shade to the next. This is why the fill of the word "TRON" & the light cycle have that distinct banding - sort of a homage to the technology of the past. On the side art you can also see this effect in Jeff Bridge's face.

mahuti · « **Reply #12 on:** March 12, 2005, 01:29:15 pm »

Re: your "rules." A good designer knows when to break them, and I think the logo needs a break from the "hard edges" rule. I would suggest using a fade in the logo like the original, rather than sticking by the rules. It will look better. Everything else looks stylized, but that just looks busted. Other than that...great job on the art. I'd also suggest pulling out a bit of the red/magenta out of the yellow light cycle. The color in the jpg looks like it is suffering from an unintended color shift. The colors in the movie were so vivid, and the rest of the colors you are using are vivid as well (hot pink anybody?) the yellows look a bit muddy. Regardless of your intention, I don't think this color reads "true"

lostwire · « **Reply #13 on:** March 12, 2005, 02:02:11 pm »

Quote from: mahuti on March 12, 2005, 01:29:15 pm

Re:

mahuti · « **Reply #14 on:** March 12, 2005, 02:56:27 pm »

Quote

a good designer knows how to make it work within the guidelines he's laid out.

If that is true, I still think your logo could use some work. If you're going with a banded logo you can make it work better by adjusting the positioning of the bands a bit more... I guess I'm talking about subtleties here, but you've created something very good and at this point, it's only going to get better by degrees. I'm not suggesting that the issue is a make or break design problem, but as a designer, my gut feeling is that the bands are a bit problematic. The top band makes a false line with the black shadow (note the blue band where it intersects underneath the tops of the "T" and "R." Elsewhere in your design you have more organic vector shapes and very few regular patterned geometric shapes. In the instance of the logo, there are a number or like sized blocks that makes it look like unintended cg artifacts. Maybe more bands, decending sized bands, changing the black shadow to a dark blue, etc would help the logo blend better with your theme. Anyway, that's the last I'll say on the subject. Again, I don't think it's a big issue, and I'm not implying that your work is "bad..." only that it could be better. You've done something really good. With more effort it could be great.

lostwire · « **Reply #15 on:** March 12, 2005, 08:33:01 pm »

mahuti: Thanks for the detailed critique - you brought up some excellent points. While finishing up some details on the light cycle I messed around with the banding on the word "TRON". Thankfully it's the exact same size as it appeared on the original marquee so it's very easy just to paste in a new one & go to work. I also converted all the files to jpegs directly form Illustrator CS so the colors seemed to have held up better, & while i was at it I conformed the colors in the CP as well.

SirPeale · « **Reply #16 on:** March 13, 2005, 11:27:17 am »

Quote from: RayB on March 11, 2005, 04:21:20 pm

He said "the previous owner"

My apologies, I missed that in the rest of the posts.

rchadd · « **Reply #17 on:** March 14, 2005, 08:10:45 am »

great work!

spriggy · « **Reply #18 on:** March 14, 2005, 09:58:37 am »

Ditto!

lostwire · « **Reply #19 on:** March 14, 2005, 08:40:27 pm »

Thanks fellas!

So... does anyone know of a high quality shop where I can get the vinyl side art screened (as well as the marquee & CP)? I've spoken with Arcade Classic Graphics & apparently they're not set up for full coverage side art & I'm still waiting to hear back from Arcade Renovations.

GGKoul · « **Reply #20 on:** March 15, 2005, 01:07:37 am »

Quote from: lostwire on March 14, 2005, 08:40:27 pm

Thanks fellas!

So... does anyone know of a high quality shop where I can get the vinyl side art screened (as well as the marquee & CP)? I've spoken with Arcade Classic Graphics & apparently they're not set up for full coverage side art & I'm still waiting to hear back from Arcade Renovations.

Contace Scott and Mamemarquees.com.... He does GREAT work!

knuttz · « **Reply #21 on:** March 15, 2005, 03:47:45 am »

Your side art is good but I'm thinking something more like this...

lostwire · « **Reply #22 on:** March 15, 2005, 10:12:19 am »

Quote from: knuttz on March 15, 2005, 03:47:45 am

Your side art is good but I'm thinking something more like this...

Uh... the girl likes it but I don't think so.

lostwire · « **Reply #23 on:** March 16, 2005, 11:11:21 pm »

Refining the CP:

Magnet_Eye · « **Reply #24 on:** March 17, 2005, 07:41:18 am »

LMAO!

Quote from: knuttz on March 15, 2005, 03:47:45 am

Your side art is good but I'm thinking something more like this...

lostwire · « **Reply #25 on:** March 20, 2005, 08:09:41 pm »

Well this should be the last mock-up as I'm finally finished with the artwork. My samples came in from t-molding.com & their light blue should like quite nice with the color pallet in my designs. The bondo is complete on the cab & I put on my first coat of primer this afternoon so I'm just about ready to place my order with Scott at MameMarquees. I've decided to go with mainly lighted blue buttons after seeing Knievel's wonderful work so I'll be ordering those as well as a 3" lighted Happ ball, 360s, & a Tornado.

lostwire · « **Reply #26 on:** March 21, 2005, 10:02:12 am »

GGKoul · « **Reply #27 on:** March 21, 2005, 04:47:34 pm »

Quote from: knuttz on March 15, 2005, 03:47:45 am

Your side art is good but I'm thinking something more like this...

Imagine using that as your side art!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Chris · « **Reply #28 on:** March 22, 2005, 01:54:07 pm »

Quote from: lostwire on March 21, 2005, 10:02:12 am

Terminate? Isn't "de-rez" or "end of line" more appropriate

rohan · « **Reply #29 on:** March 22, 2005, 02:01:16 pm »

Agreed...Even "deactivate" or "delete" would be more along the lines of Tron.

Chris · « **Reply #30 on:** March 22, 2005, 02:10:05 pm »

On the other hand, you're inserting a credit to start a game, not end one....

lostwire · « **Reply #31 on:** March 22, 2005, 03:42:54 pm »

Quote from: Chris on March 22, 2005, 02:10:05 pm

On the other hand, you're inserting a credit to start a game, not end one....

I'm not really following your train of thought here but thanks for the "Terminate" replacements on the coin door graphic - a very good idea! If I find some time tonight I'll pop in the DVD & take notes of all the terminology they used to see what would work best for the eject buttons.

RetroJames · « **Reply #32 on:** March 22, 2005, 03:47:46 pm »

Quote from: Chris on March 22, 2005, 02:10:05 pm

On the other hand, you're inserting a credit to start a game, not end one....

Pushing the return ejects your quarter.

:End of Line

Chris · « **Reply #33 on:** March 22, 2005, 03:51:39 pm »

Quote from: 1hookedspacecadet on March 22, 2005, 03:47:46 pm

Quote from: Chris on March 22, 2005, 02:10:05 pm
On the other hand, you're inserting a credit to start a game, not end one....

Pushing the return ejects your quarter.


Main	Restorations	Software	Audio/Jukebox/MP3	Everything Else	Buy/Sell/Trade
Project Announcements	Monitor/Video	GroovyMAME	Merit/JVL Touchscreen	Meet Up	Retail Vendors
Driving & Racing	Woodworking	Software Support Forums	Consoles	Project Arcade	Reviews
Automated Projects	Artwork	Frontend Support Forums	Pinball	Forum Discussion	Old Boards
Raspberry Pi & Dev Board	controls.dat	Linux	Miscellaneous Arcade	Wiki Discussion	Old Archives
Lightguns	Arcade1Up	Try the site in https mode		Site News


Unread posts \| New Replies \| Recent posts \| Rules \| Chatroom \| Wiki \| File Repository \| RSS \| Submit news